Scarecrows!

These three scarecrows are from Bad Squiddo Scenics, sculpted by the incomparable Ristul. Annie used to sell them under the banner of Ristul's Extraordinary Market, but bought the line in 2018.

I bought these at Colours last year and recently painted them as a change from painting figures for 7TV. Of course, these would be perfect for 7TV games, especially ones involving strange goings-on in one of those inward-looking villages somewhere in rural England.

Anyway, I've photographed them from front and rear, to show off the truly splendid detail on these gorgeous resin pieces.

Worzel Gummidge would never have been allowed on children's TV if he'd looked like this.

I wanted to paint these up looking old, tatty and faded, so after undercoating in Army Painter leather brown, I used mainly pale brown and tan colours, with bits of green and dark red well diluted to act as washes on some parts of the figures. I wanted the orange of the pumpkin heads to look quite faded too, as though these scarecrows had spent too long out in the weather. There is so much detail in the figures that I did a fair amount of dry-brushing, both before and after an ink wash. I made up small mounds from blue foam, covered with mixed ballast. After finishing the figures, I used the same pale browns and tans to dry-brush the bases before finishing them with a mixed flock.

Another playtest for ROTOR

I felt like it was time to have another game of Reivers Of The Outer Rim, my skirmish level sci fi rules. I wanted to see how the game played out with all the latest changes and also see where there might be room for further improvements. 

In this game, each band of Reivers is looking for tech items in a settlement on a minor planet that had previously been ruled by a renegade warlord and his retinue. Defeated in battle by a military expedition launched by a powerful Mining Corporation, the warlord has moved to a safer location, leaving behind residual forces. Now Reiver bands have moved in to see what they can pick up in the aftermath of the fighting.

No one knows what forces might be left behind or even if there are any static defences. Therefore, each band has been allowed to take a sensor droid in addition to any combat droids they have, unless their band is not able to take droids at all. Normally, the rules specific that you can take either a combat or a sensor droid.

In this scenario, the range of possible NPCs on a roll of 1D10 is;

  1)  Renegade trooper 

  2)  Cyborg

  3)  Defence droid

  4)  Mutant

  5)  Rogue Psyker

  6)  Alien renegade trooper (+1 in H2H attacks, causes Panic)

  7)  Renegade trooper with heavy weapon

  8)  Renegade leader

  9)  Defence drone 

10)  Renegade trooper in augmented combat armour.  

There were four of us playing. Me, plus Clive (who once again provided his excellent scenery), Nick and Matt, all of whom have played ROTOR before.

We each started 12" from a corner. Once again, Clive's combat droid was a big imposing number.

Using sensor droids meant that both salvage items (marked by yellow gems) and NPCs (marked by green gems until within line of sight) were quickly revealed. 

The area shown below soon because full of dangerous NPCs. The defence droid behind the tree was a perpetual threat until it was destroyed late on in the game. The downed figure was an NPC. 

Matt pushed towards the areas where his sensor droid had detected salvage items. The big figure is his Alien Paladin.

Clive's Leader took up a commanding position high above the vegetation. This would also make him an easy target, but he survived. 

Nick's Reivers had problems with a mutant that emerged from a shanty, but was eventually killed.

The red-coated figure is a Rogue Psyker. Successful psychic attacks can be devastating, as lifeforms , apart from other Psykers cannot make a saving throw against psychic forces. Droids are immune to psychic attacks, but can be displaced elsewhere by psykers.

This Cyborg was a dangerous NPC, armed with a heavy weapon. Well, it was dangerous until it got killed.

Things were looking pretty dangerous for my band for a while, as the area was full of nasties.

This mutant NPC decided to drop in on one of Clive's grunts.

It was a fun game, things flowed a lot more smoothly than before and most of the questions that came up were around the searching mechanisms and what sort of things and locations could be searched. The question of looting dead opponents also came up. This aspect of the game needs further development. I shall give it some thought and draft some ideas.

Using sensor droids was a useful addition. They aided the placing of salvage items, but also got a large number of NPCs into play. For this scenario, that was a good aspect of the game, seeing as it was supposed to be occupied by the remnants of a Renegade army. Combat droids are very powerful, but sensor droids also have their uses. I am now wondering whether they should be a standard part of a Reiver band, rather than just an alternative to having a combat droid?

More Pulp figures

Here are some more of the excellent Bob Murch Pulp Figures miniatures which are stocked by North Star. I cannot stress how much I like and covet these figures. There are so many great things in the range that it seems a shame not to buy all of them!

These are 1920s US Marines, which I can see being used in a wide range of Pulp games, anything from adventures featuring disturbing Eldritch Terrors to defending the Earth against an Unknown Alien Menace seeking to abduct and enslave humans. They might even have to face off against Chinese pirates, Bolshevik agents or some other mundane opponents.

First, some Marines in Brody helmets. Four with rifles and one with a shotgun.

The rest are all wearing Montana hats. This group consists of a lieutenant with a pistol, two riflemen, another shotgunner and one marine with a Thompson submachine gun.

The final group has two more riflemen, another shotgunner, another Tommy gun-armed marine and one marine with a Browning Automatic Rifle.

So, pretty well equipped to face all kinds of enemies, from the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, plus all points in between and also places even further away.

I'm not sure how accurate the colour palette I've chosen is in real terms but I think that their look and feel is pretty nice overall. They are really nice sculpts and they paint up really well. They have a nice larger than life appearance, as befits their Pulp status and the figures have loads of character. Like I said, I want MORE!!!!!

Sunday All-Day session at LBWS

Last Sunday was one of our all-dayers at Lincombe Barn Wargames Society. We had a pretty good turnout and there were plenty of games being played. 

They ranged from Peninsular War Sharp Practice, via HoTT, Saga: Age of Magic, Warhammer Ancient Battles and an unknown AWI game to Alien Squad Leader.

We actually played through a short HoTT campaign, with a variety of armies (Barbarians, Pirates, two lots of Orcs) invading an island continent and fighting both against the defenders and one another. This was rather successful and we will probably do something else along these lines again in the future.

If there are any wargamers in the Bristol area, or even a bit further afield who would like to play regularly on a Sunday afternoon, we are located at Lincombe Barn, Overndale Road, Downend, BS16 2RW.

Radon Zombies of the Ionosphere

My lead pile reduces further with the completion of the Bob Murch Radon Zombie figures from his excellent Pulp Figures range, bought from North Star. I've coveted these figures for ages, but never really had a reason to possess them until Crooked Dice released 7TV Pulp. 

These figures are perfect for the kind of games that can be set in the world of those old black and white film serials that were staples of the Saturday Morning Pictures of my childhood. Here are some of the basic Radon Zombies with a variety of rayguns (they have to be rayguns, no one had lasers or light sabres back then).

Next, here is some heavy support in the shape of a dastardly beam projector or perhaps an Ion Cannon. This surely has to have a range of settings, beginning with "Stun" and passing via "Enslave" and "Kill" onto "Mutate", or worse, Mwahahahahahahaha!

Finally, here are a few characters;

From left to right, there is a guy with some kind of weird weapon (probably a Mind Control Projector, ready to turn the people of Earth into slaves), a female Commander and an undercover Zombie (surely completely undetectable in his fedora hat and trenchcoat?).

I really enjoyed painting these. They are nice clean models and don't really need much work, but do need a simple palette, I think, to keep to the production values of 1930s science fiction films. I used red and old gold on the weapons to lift the overall appearance of the figures from being too drab.

Now, all I need are some stalwart defenders, ready to protect the Earth from the evil plans of these cruel alien invaders.

En Avant ..... Au Double! - Day Two

Here, as promised is the second day, Sunday, of our Peninsular War Sharp Practice weekend. My partner had decided to try and get an earlier flight home because of Storm Ciara, so I was playing solo for both games. Lots of photos, but, once again not a great deal of glory for my Anglo-Portuguese.

Onto the action! My first game was all about trying to get two-thirds of my force across a bridge over a river. Personally. I'd have preferred to be the side trying to stop the French crossing the river, but that wasn't to be. It would be a long trek.

Once again, I would suffer from the attentions of French artillery, which pretty much swung the game away from me. It wasn't so much the casualties, it was the double shock from cannister that made my task so hard.

I'd got my Atiradores to secure a wall, preventing the French musket-armed Voltigeur skirmishers from peppering my infantry columns as they advanced towards the bridge.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos from other games;

Now, back to my game. I'd pulled the Atiradores back from the wall, to help contain another French threat, together with a group of Portuguese Granadieros.

Meanwhile, at the bridge, the French attack columns were advancing. 

Halfway along the road, I'd foolishly halted my 61st Foot and deployed them against the threat that my Atiradores were dealing with perfectly well. A definite mistake.

My Portuguese Fuzileiros held the bridge, throwing back the French and subsequently making their escape across the river, but it was too little, too late. This game went down as another minor French victory.

The final game was a clash between French and Anglo-Portuguese to control a strategically-important plateau and road.

I started out with a pretty coherent position, and I hoped that things would work out OK.

French Dragoons, advancing against my right flank.

My Rifles, protecting my right saw off the Dragoons, removing one threat.

The 61st advanced on my left, protected by the Atiradores, who did sterling work seeing off the Voltigeurs in the woods ahead of me. I repeatedly used Sharp Practice to keep the Atiradores loaded, so that they could make the most of their firing as my left flank pressed forwards.

I hoped that my Portuguese Line would be OK, holding the centre as the 61st made good progress.

Unhappily, Rob's Voltigeurs attacked over the hill, defeating the Rifles, who were caught unloaded in Fisticuffs, pushing them back to the edge of the table. Before long, they would be gone, leafing the Portuguese line with an undefended flank.

This led to the breakup of the line, and their eventual defeat.

We were running out of time, but things had kind of turned into a stalemate. My 61st and Atiradores held the heights on the left, and were inflicting casualties on the main French line but my right was reduced to a single group of Portuguese who had little hope of survival. 

In the end, we called it a draw, but my Force Morale was plummeting.

In the end, an excellent weekend of gaming, and one that has given me much food for thought. I may well have to venture back into buying and painting up more British, flank company skirmishers with muskets, not Rifles.